The Flexible Chef 🇪🇺

Three glossy BBQ-glazed chicken drumsticks piled on a white plate, resting on a black campervan gas hob. The skin is deeply caramelised with rich dark brown and amber tones, with savoury glaze pooling around the base of the plate.

The rear of a white Fiat Ducato campervan parked on a gravel track in a rural Spanish landscape at dusk. The van displays "Perros a Bordo" and "The Flexible Chef" branding alongside a leaping dog graphic. Bare winter trees and scrubby open terrain stretch into the distance under a dramatic cloudy sky.

No BBQ? No problem.
Parked up on an ancient olive oil route in Andalucía, cooking smoky spiced drumsticks on a van hob. A splash of Worcestershire at the end = instant glossy glaze. Charcoal who? Van life never tasted this good. > tinyurl.com/bbq-drumsticks
#VanLife #CampervanCooking #RidgeMonkey

A cartoon illustration of a sad man sitting in a folding chair beside a white campervan, holding a cup of tea, with an open book and Digestive biscuits on the ground. A black and white greyhound rests on a mat beside him. In the background, a calm lagoon and Spanish countryside stretch into the distance under a warm morning sky.

A quiet morning, a secret lagoon, and a visit from a beloved ghost 🐾 Issy & Poppy Investigate: The Junior Detective on Tour — a gentle pet loss kids story about friendship, grief, and carrying on.
tinyurl.com/pet-loss-kids
#IssyandPoppyInvestigate #KidsStory

Issy & Poppy gave him the sniff test. theflexiblechef.co.uk/issy-poppy-i...

Lovely tail movement. Is he listening to classical music?

`A black greyhound stands on sun-warmed terracotta tiles in a Spanish courtyard, looking towards the glowing translucent ghost of a white greyhound leaning over a folded lilac cardigan with tiny reading glasses. Colourful flowers, a lemon tree and a stone arch reading Casa Adora fill the background.`

The Greyhound Detective Agency never closes — even when one detective is a ghost. 🐾
Issy steps up in a very special kids story.
tinyurl.com/kids-greyhou...
#Greyhounds #IssyAndPoppyInvestigate #KidsStory

A black greyhound lounging on a sofa.

Poppy Tinribs: Detective Off Duty 🐾

Today we said goodbye to Poppy, the quiet authority and inspiration behind the "Issy & Poppy Investigate" series. Seven years of rescue life and adventures in our campervan across Spain. Read her tribute here: tinyurl.com/tinribs-off-...
#Greyhounds #Vanlife

Two black greyhounds looking out of a campervan onto the countryside.

Proper adventures, wonky photos!

Join me, Issy, and Poppy as we navigate #Vanlife in Spain. From the Vias Verdes of Andalucía to our 3,370m² sanctuary at Hermoso Campo, it’s a journey of life on the move in our Fiat the Fiat. 🐾
Read the guide: tinyurl.com/vanlife-spai...

#TheFlexibleChef #Vanlife

A small jar of homemade fermented hot sauce labelled Sunstrike Habanero.

A white bowl filled with bright red vegetable soup, topped with fresh coriander, sitting on a green metal outdoor table.

Threw together an improvised Sunday veggie soup and gave it a kick with my own Sunstrike Habanero ferment. Zero plan, all flavour. Sometimes the best bowls are the accidental ones.
#WhatsCooking #TheFlexibleChef

An intact green glass bottle of Apollinaris mineral water circa 1917, recovered from the WWI wreck of S.V. Dirigo in the English Channel, cork still in place.

A builder called Vince. A bottle recovered from a WWI wreck in the English Channel. A trail leading from German U-boat UB-23 to Coca-Cola. 108 years later, the cork is still intact. 🍾👇
tinyurl.com/apollinaris-...
#WWI #History #Apollinaris

A spice and dry goods trader at his stall in Chandni Chowk market, Delhi, with rows of bowls filled with nuts, dried fruits and spices, price tags visible throughout.

32 days on Indian trains. Omelettes, aloo gobi, the best kebab in Lucknow, and a fish in Mumbai that smells stronger than it tastes. Bombay Duck — and what travel does to your appetite. 🐾👇
tinyurl.com/bombay-duck-...
#BombayDuck #Dishoom #IndiaTravel

Satirical illustration of a stern-faced man in a dark suit with a Union Jack lapel pin, peering intently through oversized toy binoculars on a sunny beach, holiday-makers visible in the background.

A man reported a charity rowing team to the coastguard as an asylum invasion. Donated £1,000. Did not apologise. Called it vigilance. Issy & Poppy investigate Rupert Lowe & Restore Britain 🐾👇
tinyurl.com/rupert-lowe-...
#IssyandPoppyInvestigate #Satire

Two 250ml jars of fermented hot sauce — Sunstrike Habanero and Fruity Almería Red — resting on a worktop

Fruity Almería Red — my second Almería chilli ferment. Red chillies and pineapple, brined for 16 days, then blended with carrot, mandarin zest, honey and apple cider vinegar. Sunshine in a bottle. 🌶️
tinyurl.com/fruity-almer...
#WhatsCooking #Fermenting #TheFlexibleChef

I hope your mint patch comes good.

Curry leaves — not curry powder! Citrusy, nutty, and completely irreplaceable.
Find them in Asian supermarkets or online. Can't find them? Leave them out.
But do try.

No, I use everything with my phone. I'd be scuppered without it. I do admit to owning a paper map of Cáceres in Extremadura though.

A bowl of green soup with a few rice grains and a lemon slice in a white bowl.

I've been chasing this soup since 1968.

Proper GREEN mulligatawny — the recipe I finally reconstructed after 50 years, a legendary Streatham restaurant, Rick Stein's India, and a flooded kitchen.

tinyurl.com/green-mulligatawny-soup

#WhatsCooking #TheFlexibleChef

Slow roasted lamb over potatoes, onion and pan juices in a roasting tin.

Slow-roasted Greek lamb for one 🍋🥩 — interrupted by an impromptu Andalusian BBQ involving sardines, pork and a bottle of Ribera del Duero. The lamb waited. It was worth it.
tinyurl.com/greek-lamb-a...
#WhatsCooking #TheFlexibleChef

``` A well-used roast chicken carcass in the roasting tin — the starting point for six meals for one, including curry, noodle broth and homemade stock ```

One roast chicken. Six meals. Three days. Zero waste. 🐔

Leftover roast chicken recipes for one — sandwich, curry, noodle broth, stock, and two very happy greyhounds.

>>> tinyurl.com/left-over-ro... #CookingForOne #LeftoverChicken #WhatsCooking

Free Campervan Parking in Spain: How to Find the Best Park Ups How to Find Free or Low Cost Park Ups in Spain. Exploring Spain in a camper van is an adventure like no other, with its stunning coastlines, and scenery

Updated my guide to finding free campervan parking in Spain — new images, more detail on wild parking, Áreas de Autocaravanas, showers on the road, and the legal stuff explained clearly. Essential reading if you're planning a van trip in Spain >>> tinyurl.com/free-parkups...
#Vanlife #FreeParking

Three pestle & mortars containing dried chillies, coriander, saffron and turmeric powder.

If you love making curries, this is the one recipe you'll make again and again. Dishoom onion and tomato masala — slow-cooked, deeply flavoured, and keeps for a week in the fridge.
tinyurl.com/dishoom-masala
#Dishoom #CurryNight #WhatsCooking #CookingForOne

Traditional Welsh Tatws Pum Munud. Potatoes, onions, carrots and pancetta in a frying pan on a hob.

My most-visited recipe in 2025: Traditional Welsh Tatws Pum Munud = five-minute potatoes. 223 clicks in one day. It's a one-pan potato stew with pancetta that takes 40 minutes — not five. Worth it.

👉 tinyurl.com/Tatws-Pum-Mu...
#WhatsCooking #WelshFood #TheFlexibleChef

Jars of fermented chillies and vegetables on a kitchen counter.

I’ve been building a Fermentation Hub on my site — a home for my chilli ferments, small‑batch experiments, and Casa Adora sauces. If you’re curious what’s bubbling in my kitchen, here it is: tinyurl.com/fermentation...
#WhatsCooking #TheFlexibleChef #fermenting #chillies #hotsauce

Wonky photo of fermented baby pepinos in a glass jar on Day 5, showing cloudy brine and a handwritten date label reading "15/02" — active lacto fermentation in progress.

My first non-chilli ferment: baby pepinos in brine, Day 5. Cloudy, sharp, alive. Slower than pickles, more interesting than vinegar. Worth the wait.
👉 tinyurl.com/fermented-pe...
#WhatsCooking #Fermenting #TheFlexibleChef

These two women are suing Andrew Tate, alleging he raped them. Here they visit the social media companies that created Tate. Please share.

*one voice altered to disguise identity

Golden roast chicken for one with confit garlic butter, resting in roasting tin with pan juices

Roasting a whole chicken for one isn't sad — it's self-respect. Confit garlic under the skin, warm chickpea panzanella, and leftovers for days.
👉 theflexiblechef.co.uk/roast-chicke...
#WhatsCooking #TheFlexibleChef #CookingForOne #RoastChicken

A white plate containing yellow, orange and red chillies.

My chilli obsession has officially taken over the kitchen. Fresh chillies, garlic confit oil, and a small‑batch drizzle I can’t stop putting on everything.
theflexiblechef.co.uk/small-batch-...
#WhatsCooking #TheFlexibleChef

Two black greyhounds, Issy & Poppy, sitting on a tile floor.

Poppy survived abuse, IMHA, and more. She cannot catch a break — but she keeps going. 🖤
I wrote up everything I learned about feeding a senior dog through IMHA recovery.
👉 tinyurl.com/poppy-imha-r...
#IMHA #SeniorDogs #Greyhound

Glass jars of mixed chillies fermenting in a 2% brine on a blue check tea towel. Salt jar and fresh chillies in the foreground.

Four new February ferments bubbling away — serrano heat, sunny yellows, habanero fruit and a mixed‑chilli wildcard. Winter storms out, jars in. Casa Adora is alive again.
tinyurl.com/feb-ferments
#WhatsCooking #Fermenting #TheFlexibleChef

Fermenting equipment: jars, jug, scales, lids on a grey tray on a black granite worktop

Small‑batch fermented sauces bubbling away at Casa Adora — chilli, funk, patience, and a tray full of mischief. Slow‑fermented heat hits differently.
tinyurl.com/small-batch-...
#WhatsCooking #Fermenting #TheFlexibleChef

Poorly Poppy is on boiled chicken and rice, they usually have the same so there are no disputes. I'll slip a few sardines in Issy's bowl. 😉